Tuesday, July 28, 2009

My 12-year-old daughter and I were watching one of her favorite shows, "Touched By An Angel". In this episode, one of the characters was tasked with writing a story. This character loved to play chess, so it was no surprise that her story was about chess pieces, specifically a little pawn and a king.

In her story, she showed how the little pawn could not leap like knights or move anywhere on the chess board like the bishop. The pawn could only move one tiny step at a time. How many times do we look around and long to be like the grandiose knight, leaping from place to place, bounding over obstacles without a care, or like the bishops moving all over the board giving counsel to the King and Queen, or even like the rooks moving forward and back attempting to protect the kingdom. We long for someone to notice how needed we are or how much we can contribute to the furthering of the Kingdom, but instead we are relegated to one minuscule step at a time as a seemingly inconsequential pawn.

But here is the secret...if the pawn can stay by the side of the king, it can safely move, step by little step, to the other side of the board and be transformed into whatever the Master wishes. It just takes staying in the shadow of the King. Following His moves and heeding His commands.

There is another little secret to the pawn. It can never go back. It must always move forward. It doesn't matter what happened, even one move ago, it is in the past, and the little pawn must move constantly forward. So much of our lives are spent looking behind us instead of keeping our eyes focused on the goal ahead.

Father God, make me like a little pawn, weak in the eyes of others, but safe in the shadow of my King, moving constantly forward toward Your transformation.

Monday, July 20, 2009

At a birthday celebration thrown at my office for me and a co-worker back in January, I was asked the question, "What am I looking for this year". My answer came forward quickly. DESTINY

For so long I strove to be what I thought everyone around me needed me to be. To loosely quote the apostle Paul..."all things to all people". But a week before my birthday, God got a hold of me. He told me that it didn't matter what I had tried to be for the last 18 years or more of my life. It was time to stand up and walk forward into the destiny that was predestined before my birth.

I love the stories in the Bible (no shocker there). I especially love the Old Testament books of history. Joshua is one of my favorites. From Joshua, I learned of the people who would go before the warriors. The ones who prepare the way for the conquerors to come and wage the war. I find it interesting that God sent singers before the soldiers. He sent those with hearts of praise before He sent those with warrior hearts. He wanted to make sure that the soldiers knew for whom they were fighting and Who gave them the victory. Is it any wonder that God expects the same from us today? We are expected to go forward with His praise on our lips declaring in both the natural and the supernatural that God gives us the victory.

I hope you will come with me on this journey to become a Praise Warrior. I want to be someone who shows great vigor, courage, and aggressiveness (the definition of a warrior). I want to become someone whose name becomes synonymous with praise. Not necessarily to be known for my voice (we all know that belongs to my husband), but someone who is known for an attitude of praise.

About Me

My mother tells this story about me at 2 years old. I had a toy box full of toys, but she would always find me with my books out on the floor. I would put them in a line, pick them up, "read" them to myself, then place them in a stack. I would then put them in a circle around me, "read" them to myself, stack them up, and then repeat.
When I was 8, my favorite place was the library. When I was 16, I was reading my textbooks for new reading material. And on and on it goes.
Check my purse on any given day. I'll always have a book in there, just in case.
Now I love to share what I read with everyone in hopes that the books will take you where you've never been before.